Fringe Arts has a new CEO and here’s the Fringe Fest show she is most excited about

Every September, Fringe Arts hosts over 1,000 curated and independent performances, with the Fringe Arts building on Front Street serving as the epicenter for the festival. This year is special not just because of the new productions making their debut, including Nosejob by Lightning Rod Special, Poor Judge by Pig Iron Theatre Company, and Blackwood: Winter Born by Gunnar Montana, but Fringe Arts also has a new CEO and producing director.

Theatre Horizon’s artistic director, Nell Bang-Jensen, will now be the new Fringe head.

In her new role, Bang-Jensen is ready to shift gears from her community focused work in Norristown, and steer Fringe Arts, which focuses on showcasing original new work. “It’s a passion of mine artistically,” she said, “I’m also a creator and director, so being able to create that kind of environment that focuses on new work is exciting. Especially at a time when so many of these opportunities (SPACE on Ryder Farm, Under the Radar Festival) for new work are closing.”

She hopes to make Fringe Arts one of the largest, shining artistic hubs in Philadelphia, one that continues to be new and bold, pushing the boundaries of what theatre can be.

Here is what she and her fellow Fringe Festers are most excited for at this year’s fest.

The new Fringe CEO will be directing Lightning Rod Special’s production of Nosejob. Nosejob tells the story of a group of Catholic university sorority sisters as they plot revenge against a group of jocks who’ve been pulling off a distasteful prank. The Lightning Rod Special Production explores this story with the added context of medieval saints and vikings, and begs to know what we make of our past sexual escapades. Nosejob plays at Theatre Exile (1340-48 S. 13th St.) from Sept. 11-21.

The Garden: River’s Edge. Nichole Canuso’s intimate, interactive dance piece takes six audience members at a time through a story of connection, reflection, and gentle acts of participation. “Nichole is incredible at the way she creates an intimate experience for each audience member that feels like pure magic,” Bang-Jensen. The Garden: River’s Edge plays at the Arch Street Meeting House (320 Arch St.) from Sept. 7-22.

Rayne is a Black, nonbinary performer, writer, and designer based in Southwest Philadelphia. They are the playwright behind On Buried Ground, a performance piece about the Black congregants of Christ Church. This immersive experience takes the audiences through the often-overlooked histories of Black churchgoers during colonial times. It coincides with Christ Church’s current showing of “Groundings: An Exhibition.” On Buried Ground runs Sept. 4-14 at Christ Church Neighborhood House (20 N. American St.).

Is This a Wedding? This piece explores what it means to be queer and how to grapple with the traditional expectations of marriage. It played at Christ Church Neighborhood House on Sept. 2. “I’m really, really excited to see Is This a Wedding? by Real Life Brothers,” Rayne said. “Crys Clemente is a special artist. Crys is equal parts architect and anarchist. Their writing is vital, insurgent, and queer. I’m always taken by their ability to weave social critique and theory into unpretentious, affecting, and playful narratives.”

Grief Astronomer. Laurel Johnson performs this interactive, immersive experience about grief, trauma, childhood, and our relationship to the universe. This show is BYOB (blankets) and BYOP (pillows) to use as seating within the space. It runs at the Icebox Project Space Gallery (1400 N. American St.) from Sept. 12-15.

Connor Hogan and Savannah Reich are collaborators on the Fringe production of What is the Butt Game? Reich, an award-winning playwright, had this piece commissioned, in part by New York’s Lucille Lortel Theatre. She and local theatrical deviser Hogan worked together on this piece that charts and explains the Satanic Panic of the 1980s and how it affected Reich’s childhood daycare, which was the victim of a panic-fueled lawsuit. The show enlists three additional actors, who are different for every unrehearsed performance and respond in the moment to prompted direction. It plays at Christ Church Neighborhood House, Sept. 1-26.

Love You Love You Love You. Sarah Sanford’s one-person show examines the stigma around living with dementia and asks the audience to bear witness to one mother’s cognitive decline. Love You Love You Love You runs Sept. 20-29 at Christ Church Neighborhood House.

The Fluxus Brothers Present: Good Art Bad Art. The Fluxus Brothers perform an abstract concert reliving some of their best hits, as well as covering songs by artists spanning the past several decades, in an attempt to answer the old question: Is this art?

The Fluxus Brothers Present: Good Art Bad Art runs at the Maas Studio (1320 N. 5th St.), Sept. 13-27.

Pirate Queens. Mary Read and Anne Bonny, 18th-century pirates and lovers, are explored in this piece written and produced by Brooke Shilling. Shilling, a McNally Awards finalist, tells their story on a three-foot-by-three-foot wooden crate, with two actors, no props, and no additional set pieces. It plays at Christ Church Neighborhood House, Sept. 4-14.

Ben Grinberg is the cofounder, program manager, and owner of the Cannonball Festival, as well as the co-artistic director of Almanac Dance Circus Theatre. The Cannonball Festival is a Fringe Hub, meaning that it is a vibrant center of activities, where several performances take place throughout the festival. Grinberg is directing Dead Muse with Almanac as part of the Fringe Festival this year. Dead Muse is a collaborative piece about the struggles of an artist hounded by their time in Los Angeles. It runs at the Icebox Project Space Gallery for two performances only on Sept. 8 and 15.

SMASH! Black Circus Edition. The culmination of Cannonball Festival’s Black Circus Week, this one-night event showcases a selection of international Black circus artists, before splitting them into pairs and challenging them to create something new on the spot. “I really think that’s the essence of Fringe and I can’t wait to see what new creations and connections spring to life,” Grinberg said. This event takes place on Sept. 11 at Christ Church Neighborhood House.